Is open space a magnet for business? A spatial analysis of New York

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the spatial patterns of 22 types of industries in New York with respect to open space of four types – Central Park, waterfront, and passive and active inland open spaces – to compare industries’ preferences to, and their actual accessibility to, open space. As a preference indicator, we use logit regression to estimate the degree to which the occurrence of the business cluster may be attributed to open space. Also as an accessibility indicator, we use descriptive statistics to assess average distance to the nearest open space for each type of industry. We find that for businesses in the hospitality and creative industries, the probability of being part of a cluster is higher with better accessibility to open spaces. We also find that, on average, managerial service and public administration-related industries have the closest proximity to open spaces. Some of the industries that exhibited preference to open spaces indeed locate themselves in its vicinity, however spatial mismatch is also observed. We extend the finding to policy implications, suggesting cautious use of open space for the purpose of industrial recruitment within cities.

Keywords:

• open space
• amenity
• accessibility
• industry cluster
• spatial analysis
• sustainable development

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